Personal computers traditionally store files locally, on a medium directly accessed by the computer generating or editing the files. As network access has become more widespread, it has become feasible to store files on a remote network. Storing files on a remote network, also referred to as cloud storage, allows a user to access the files using any device that can access the network. Such cloud storage systems reduce the user's need for local storage capacity and assure the user that, regardless of which device is accessing a file, an up-to-date copy of the file is being accessed.
Existing cloud storage systems either copy a file to a user device to be accessed locally or provide a file to an online web-based application that may be run through a web browser on the user device. Copying the file to the user device for local access requires the user device to devote extra resources of the user device to the file. Providing the file to an online web-based application requires the user to access the file using a program that may not be optimized for the user's device. Neither technique is adaptable to performance demands that may vary across time, users or user devices.